The Portland Marathon: My View from the Sideline

I finally volunteered for the Portland Marathon with my
son's cross country team. The marathon
is as old as I am, so it's had a couple of decades to smooth out the
kinks. Ok, maybe more than a couple, but
that's part of the reason it runs so smoothly.
Until last weekend I had only experienced the Portland Marathon from
the participant's standpoint. After last
weekend, I discovered I need to be a lot more grateful to those volunteers
along the course. Every run I say
'thanks' to some of the volunteers, but I'll be thanking a lot more after last
weekend. While it's a different kind of
effort, I learned that many volunteers are working just as hard as the
marathoners and there are lots of reasons to thank as many as possible.

Thank them for staying on their feet for hours. I've run a couple of marathons to know that
the first thing I want at the finish line is a comfortable pair of shoes. I discovered that my feet do better
shuffling and moving forward than standing in the same spot, passing out water
and Ultima. I know it seems weird, but
my feet were just as tired after standing there all morning as they would be if
I ran it. Show your appreciation because
their feet are probably tired too.

Thank your volunteers for getting up early and making the
event happen. I roll out of bed on a
usual race morning with ALMOST enough time to make it. Thank goodness for timing chips. Volunteers are there early to get everything
set up and ready to go. I was up at 4AM
to get to our aid station in time. I'm
not crazy enough to get up that early to run
a marathon but the volunteers don't have the option to hit the snooze button.

Thank the volunteers for braving the elements. I owe a long overdue THANK YOU to all the
volunteers that toughed it out in 2010, when it was more of a 26.2 mile
swim. When you're running the marathon,
you warm up. When you're standing on the
side passing out stuff, you don't. It
was cold, my fingers were numb and I just kept thinking how much I wanted to
run to warm up a little.

Thank your volunteers because they are putting up with some
cranky people. I'm used to the runners
and walkers being supportive, cheery and just amazing overall; I'm not used to
the crabby people at events. People are
mad because roads are closed, there's limited parking and it's crowded, most of
which are out of their control. Even though it isn't their fault, the volunteers and race helpers are the ones that
have to hear about it from angry people that are just mad about the situation
and want to take it out on someone.

I'm so thankful that the Portland Marathon and Southridge
Cross Country Runners gave me an opportunity to volunteer. I learned that I need to be a whole lot more
grateful to those troopers on the sidelines passing out water, electrolytes and
Vaseline. I also discovered I need to
volunteer more just to be inspired.
Participating in events, you're usually in groups with people close to
your pace, etc. While at a station, I
was able to see the front runners as well as the walkers, with every
participant in between.

I loved seeing an elderly couple walking hand in hand and several people I had no
idea were going to be down there. It was
inspiring to see people that look just like me not only getting it done, but
killing it. Moms, dads, grandparents, students
and professionals, all proving they are athletes. That's inspiring. You're never too old, too heavy, too short,
too (fill in the blank with the excuse of the day) to complete a marathon.

It's great to see a community come together and put on a
marathon. If you're a regular
marathoner, make sure to thank your volunteers. I know that I will be thanking volunteers at
my next event with a new found appreciation.
If you're thinking of running a marathon, you should start off
volunteering at one and get inspired. If
you're none of the above, you should still give volunteering a try, it's a
win/win. You're helping make your
community a better place and you'll feel good doing something for others. It took me too long to volunteer at the
Portland Marathon, but better late than never.
I definitely won't wait another 41 years to volunteer and, more
importantly, I'll make sure more volunteers, at all of my events, get as many
thank you's as possible. They deserve
it.